Sequestration takes its toll at West Point, Stewart Air National Guard

Federal furloughs took effect on Monday, hitting hard in the Hudson Valley.

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By DOYLE MURPHY

recordonline.com

By DOYLE MURPHY

Posted Jul. 9, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By DOYLE MURPHY
Posted Jul. 9, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Federal furloughs took effect on Monday, hitting hard in the Hudson Valley.

Nearly 2,000 civilian workers at West Point and 236 technicians at Stewart Air National Guard face forced, unpaid days off in the coming months. The cuts will cost employees about a fifth of their salaries between July 1 and Sept. 30.

That's compounded for families such as the Gokeys in New Windsor. Marie Gokey had to skip work without pay on Monday at Keller Community Army Hospital at West Point, where she is a physical therapist assistant. Her husband, Adrian Gokey, recently retired from West Point. The couple's daughter, a single mother of two who lives in Middletown, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Montrose.

Marie Gokey said they're trying to prepare for lean times ahead.

"We may not be able to pay all of our bills," Gokey said. "We're not going out buying any extras, like appliances. We're not buying anything that we don't need."

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney said the furloughs, which target Department of Defense employees, needlessly harm workers and everyone who depends on them.

"Sequestration hurts families, our communities, and our local small businesses," Maloney said in a statement.

Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said the lost wages would average $4,182 per employee at the U.S. Military Academy.

Don Hale is president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents about 1,300 civilian workers at West Point. He said sequestration takes a "meat cleaver approach instead of an analytical approach" to savings. The workers suffer, he said.

"They're filled with angst and nervousness about how they're going to survive in the future, how they're going to provide for their families," Hale said during a conference call.

The furloughs prompted West Point to take a number of steps, such as closing West Point schools for five days in September and Washington Gate until further notice. Lt. Col. Webster Wright, director of public affairs for the academy, said the overall mission would continue.

"The ability to maintain the standard will not suffer," Wright said.

Adrian and Marie Gokey said they worry most about their daughter, especially if the furloughs foretell more cuts. They want the lawmakers to get back to work and find a solution.

"What gets me," Adrian Gokey said, "these senators and congressmen, they go out and get their pictures in the paper. What about the small guys?"